The family of a train passenger who was stabbed 18 times in front of his 14-year-old son had to leave court today as CCTV footage of the ‘unrelenting attack’ was shown.
Lee Pomeroy, 51, was knifed to death by Darren Pencille five minutes after he and his son boarded a train from Guildford, Surrey, to London Waterloo on January 4. Pencille insists he was defending himself.
Pencille’s murder trial was today shown footage of the horrific attack, which unfolded in less than a minute.
Mr Pomeroy’s family left the public gallery of the Old Bailey as the disturbing footage was shown to the jury.
Lee Pomeroy was attacked and killed on a train from Guildford to Waterloo in January
Darren Pencille started arguing with Mr Pomeroy minutes after getting on the train, apparently over whether Mr Pomeroy was blocking the aisle
Svetlana Pomeroy, Mr Pomeroy’s wife, attended his killer’s trial at the Old Bailey today
The court heard yesterday that the incident happened after a heated row apparently sparked when Pencille accused Mr Pomeroy and his son of blocking the aisle.
Prosecutor Jacob Hallam QC said Mr Pomeroy was killed the day before he was due to celebrate his 52nd birthday.
Mr Hallam suggested the father and son may have been ‘blocking’ Pencille’s way, prompting the alleged murderer to twice make the ‘rather snide’ comment: ‘Ignorance is bliss.’
That caused Mr Pomeroy to respond, asking Pencille what he meant.
An argument ensured which ‘quickly became heated’ and the row was described as ‘unexpected, fast-moving and, in its conclusion, tragic.’
Pencille continued to make his way down the carriage and he was followed by Mr Pomeroy, before they both made their way into an adjoining carriage.
Mr Pomeroy was taking his son (pictured with him when he was younger) to London on the day he was attacked and was heard saying: ‘You shouldn’t have humiliated me in front of my kid’
Both Pencille and his girlfriend, Chelsea Mitchell, are on trial at London’s Old Bailey
According to one passenger, Pencille was the aggressor, calling Mr Pomeroy a ‘p***y’ and a ‘c***’.
Another witness said Pencille was swearing and accusing Pomeroy of following him up the train.
Pencille called the victim racist, even though he had not said anything racist, according to the eyewitness.
Mr Pomeroy allegedly responded: ‘I’ve never dealt with someone with special needs before.’
The defendant allegedly said: ‘C***, you heard what I said, you f****** heard what I said. Go, put your hand on me. I dare you.’
The prosecutor said: ‘It was a fight that only one of them was going to win. He is in the dock and the losing man is dead.’
Chelsea Mitchell, who is on bail, is accused of assisting an offender. She is pictured, right, arriving at court today
The scene at Horsley station in Surrey, where Mr Pomeroy died after the knife attack
Pencille had boarded the train at 1.01pm and fled at the next stop, Clandon, at 1.06pm and called his girlfriend, Chelsea Mitchell, the court heard.
At 1.15pm, Pencille was seen heading into an area of woodland. It is said he disposed of his sunglasses, hat and his jacket, which was probably stained with the victim’s blood.
The court heard that a witness asked him: ‘Are you all right?’. The defendant replied: ‘I’ve just been in an accident, I have to get back to work.’ Mitchell came to Clandon and her phone was used to carry out internet searches about what had happened that day, it is alleged.
She is also said to have bought Pencille a razor which he used to shave off his beard.
At 9.10pm, Pencille phoned his mother and said: ‘Something’s happened, I’ve done something wrong.’ He then rang his ex-partner at 9.30pm and said he had ‘done something bad that day and that she would see it on the news’.
The pair were arrested at Mitchell’s house in Farnham at 6am on January 5.
Pencille, of no fixed address, denies murder. His girlfriend, Chelsea Mitchell, of Farnham, Surrey, has pleaded not guilty to assisting an offender.
The trial continues.
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